We have just completed our second European trek. This four-day hike took us through a small section of the Julian Alps, in the country of Slovenia. We wanted to hike here to take advantage of the hut-to-hut system, which is a type of trekking found in Europe.
In the Alps alone, there are over 1, mountain huts. These huts provide shelter, beds and food, which greatly reduces what a hiker needs to carry. This makes the area more accessible to all.
Our trekking route was chosen to begin at one village and end in another, using public buses to travel from point to point. We would stay in huts each night, as Slovenia itself has a network of mountain huts, with no more than a few hiking hours between them. We spent a couple of days before and after the trek in Lake Bled, relaxing and enjoying this magnificent resort area.
We especially liked exploring the lake, with a castle overlooking it on one side and an island, complete with a church, located at the other end. Basing ourselves in Bled allowed us to leave most of our gear there while trekking, so we could take as little with us as possible. When we got up that morning the weather was threatening to rain. We had been cautioned about hiking in stormy weather, as these mountains are prone to lightning strikes.
We decided to forego the chair lift and climb up through a forest to try to get to the first mountain hut before the rain began. However, less than one hour after we started hiking, the heavy rains came, along with thunder and lightning that occurred almost right above us.
